Progress and People's Park in Nanchang

Before I jump into our trip to People's Park yesterday, I wanted to give a little update on our sweetie...

First of all, each morning I somehow wake up loving her more than the day before, which seems impossible since I go to bed thanking God for the immense love I have for her already. She is absolutely a gift from above.

Here's our little sunshine flipping through a travel magazine while Daniel made some calls in the lobby.
If he were in the room, she'd be in my lap whimpering and/or crying any time he looked at her.

She LOVES books. We went to a children's play area in our hotel, and in the midst of all the slides, balls, and rockers she wanted to flip through one of the only books on a sad little bookshelf off to the side. Of course this means that last night Daniel went out and bought her three new books. :)

By the end of the day, she started warming up to her Daddy.
We set up a little picnic on our bed last night and look what happened...

Mina shared her puffs with Daddy!
(See her wisp of hair sticking up in the back? It owns me.)
The rest of the evening she was really good around him. She didn't want me to go too far away, and she'd cry out if I got too far and he was too close. But oh what progress.

First thing this morning, she didn't cry when she saw him. This is SO huge! The whole day she's been very tolerant of him, except for when he gives her one too many kisses. When that happens Daniel gets a slap across the face. We hope she keeps this mentality about males once she becomes a teenager. :)

Ever since Sunday, we've had a difficult time getting Mina to eat. This is pretty uncommon with adopted children. The only things she'd eat were tangerines, a few Chinese round crackers, a couple of puffs and yogurt melts. The main thing she'd take down was her bottle with formula and rice cereal combined.

So, yesterday after our morning sight-seeing, we went to a restaurant for lunch. The first thing that was brought to our table was lotus root. Mina was reaching for it, so we put some in a bowl for her. She took a bite, and we were thrilled she was eating! After I put another piece in the bowl, I licked my fingers and about went through the roof. It was insanely SPICY! Mina took it down like it was nothing! We realized we had been offering her rice, congee, and porridge which is what everyone tells you they will eat. Poor girl was wanting some flavor! Jiangxi is known for their "hot" food, and I love that we have a spicy girl! She ate more of the dishes that were served. Since then she's been eating more. I love this picture of her with my chopsticks.

Now, onto what we've been doing!
Our outing yesterday was to People's Park.

I don't know how it's possible, but we forgot her shoes.
Seriously?
I'm going to blame it on jet lag.
And I was so ready to be "good" with the local women since I had her dressed in her Chinese clothes!
So close...

The park was absolutely gorgeous...

If you so much as dropped a crumb in the water, this is what would happen:

There was an area where the older generation goes and practices Chinese opera.

It's so interesting to me to see the every day life of the locals.

We went to this park with another sweet couple who adopted a little girl one day older than Mina. They live in Michigan, and once we move to Cleveland we'll be less than 4 hours away! I can't wait to get the girls together again!
Here's precious Hannah grabbing Mina's hair while Mina is busy picking her nose. :)

The only way I could love this picture more is if our Aubrey was in it!

 
It was such a great day! I think the fresh air, and quiet atmosphere really helped Mina. Up until this day, life with us had been filled with lots of appointments and loud places. Today I think she was finally able to catch her breath. It was a major turning point for us a family.

I'll end with this picture of her right before bedtime.
She snagged our spicy BBQ chips and went to town!
Oh this child! I love her so!!